Book Review – The Dog Stars By Peter Heller

Description:- A riveting, powerful novel about a pilot living in a world filled with loss—and what he is willing to risk to rediscover, against all odds, connection, love, and grace.

Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and to pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life—something like his old life—exists beyond the airport. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return—not enough fuel to get him home—following the trail of the static-broken voice on the radio. But what he encounters and what he must face—in the people he meets, and in himself—is both better and worse than anything he could have hoped for.

Narrated by a man who is part warrior and part dreamer, a hunter with a great shot and a heart that refuses to harden, The Dog Stars is both savagely funny and achingly sad, a breathtaking story about what it means to be human.

Review:- The Dog Stars sports a front cover with the strap line:-‘A novel about the end of the world which makes you glad to be alive’. It’s about the end of the world because it’s set in a post-apocalyptic event scenario: in this case, there was an epidemic of flu which wiped out a large chuck of the population. I have a particular fascination for stories of this kind and they always get me thinking about what I would do if I survived such an event. Would I stay or would I go? What would you do to survive? Would I have the skills to survive? Would life be worth living?

In this tale the main character is called Hig. He’s survived the sickness, didn’t catch the blood sickness that followed, but lost his wife and his family. Luckily though, he has his beloved dog Jasper to share his life on an airfield, in a wilderness in the United States. Bangley is his neighbour on the airfield and they work together to survive, but it’s an uneasy relationship. Aggressive, but skilled and resourceful, Bangley keeps them safe from attacks from other survivors, but Hig isn’t comfortable with all the killing this involves. Hig plays his part in the partnership too with his hunting expeditions and his recognisance and scavenging expeditions in the other joy of his life: his Cessna aeroplane.

As the novel progresses Hig feels the need of other human company and keeps thinking back to a voice he heard on his radio while flying. Eventually, these emotions come to a head and he heads off to search for the voice even though he knows there won’t be enough fuel to get back home.

Hig is a sympathetic character and it’s easy to warm to him and get drawn into his emotional story and the dilemmas he faces. Jasper the dog is a well drawn individual too, but the other characters seem less well developed and not quite as convincing.

Even after finishing the book I was still a little unclear on the exact nature of the apocalyptic event. The flu epidemic is well documented, but I’m a bit mystified about the spread of the blood sickness as it doesn’t seem to have been that contagious. There is also some kind of climate change phenomenon going on and fish and animals are struggling to survive, but it isn’t explained. Climate change helps drive events later in the novel so it may have been introduced for this purpose.

The Dog Stars is an enjoyable and thought provoking read. It’s a first novel and I will be watching out for future books from the author, Peter Heller.

This is a guest review by the lovely Erica Price, why not check out her blog at 92three30. Thank you Erica for such a wonderful review.

Disclaimer:- I was sent the above book as stated in the post from the publisher. I’ve not been paid further for mentioning any of these products in this post. All words and opinions are my own and the links have been included out of courtesy.